


The Little Things in Life

by LizzyJazz



Series: Viva Pinata tales [2]
Category: Viva Piñata
Genre: Dark Past, F/M, Family History, filled with fun, viva pinata - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-19 23:35:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15521202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizzyJazz/pseuds/LizzyJazz
Summary: And so we begin a collection of short stories about our little island buds.





	1. Chapter 1

Leena woke up to the sounds of sparrowmints chirping outside her window. She smiled and stretched out in her small, but comfy, oak bed. She made her way through the kitchen and out onto the deck of her tree house. The sun was just rising and the bird pinatas in Leena’s garden were singing happily.

_I have a good feeling about today. I should go visit Seedos later, and pick up a birdbath or two for my sparrowmints. I wonder if Avalon needs anything… Oh, right. She’s still gone... A thought of horror suddenly appeared inside of Leena’s head. Oh no! I hope her garden is ok! I better go check!_

She quickly slid down the ladder from her tree house and set off at a brisk pace towards Avalon’s garden.

Leena arrived after about five minutes of jogging and speed walking on the trails in the Piñe Woods. She gave a sigh of relief when she saw that the garden was still in great condition. She heard a rustling noise coming from the other side of the garden. She made some sort of frightened squeaking noise, like a mousemallow makes when a syrupent is coming, and dove into a bush. After a few seconds of hiding she saw that it was only Yen.   
Oh he’s probably just here to check on Avalon’s garden too. 

She slowly climbed out of the bush and walked further into the garden. Yen turned around and jumped, “Leena! What are you doing here?”

Leena started, “Oh, um, I just wanted to make sure that Avalon’s garden was still ok, since she’s been gone and all. But it, um, looks like you have that handled.”

The somber redhead nodded his head in affirmation.

Leena waved and turned around. She skipped down the trail back to her house, happy to get away from Yen. Lately he had been kind of freaky, but he seemed to be back to his old self. Maybe even quieter..

Yen returned to checking that all the pinatas were healthy and happy, and that all the plants weren’t watered too much or too little, just like he did every day since he found out that Avalon had left. The door to Avalon’s helper house opened and a tiny weedling named Wendy walked out. She jumped when she saw Yen, but realized it was the same freako who came every morning. “Oh, you. What are you doing here? We can take care of this garden just fine without you, ya know.

Yen mentally groaned; every morning he got the same lecture from Wendy about how she and the other helpers didn’t need Yen to come check the garden every morning. He had seriously considered bringing a shovel with him a few times, just to show Wendy that HE didn’t need HER lecturing him every morning. “Oh I’m sure,” he rolled his eyes, “I just want to double check, alright?”

Wendy shook her head, “Okaaaay, but you don’t neeeed to,” she sang as she made her way over to a patch of thistles in a corner of the garden.

Yen trudged out of the garden. It was a beautiful day, yet he was in despair. I can’t believe Avalon doesn’t want to see me anymore. I was just trying to protect her from that... that bastard Dastardos! I can’t believe her! Such a smart woman hanging around an asshole like him. Someday she’ll see…  
He grumbled to himself as he tromped back to his home, presumably to retreat to his room, where he spent almost all of his time these days.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Dastardos and Avalon had been having quite the vacation. After Avalon had found him, Dastardos told her all about the town they were in and its founder: his mother. Avalon had been more than surprised to hear about that. After all, Odessa had been completely unheard from for more than ten years! After a few days they decided to go back to the Village. Avalon hoped that nobody would notice her little disappearance…

They finally arrived at the Village’s border after their journey through the Piñe Woods, although they still had a small distance left to travel. “So, wot’re yew going to do when we get back?” Avalon asked Dastardos.

Dastardos shrugged, “Same as always, reap pinatas, ignore Pester, feed Yen to a sour cocoadile” he smirked as he said that last part.

Avalon laughed, “Yeah, but… everyone thinks yew’re gone.” She stopped walking and turned to face Dastardos.

Dastardos stopped floating and grinned deviously, “Well, they’ll know I’m back soon enough.”

They continued, “Also,” Dastardos went on, “I have some... business, to attend to.”

“And wot’s that?” Avalon inquired.

Shaking his head, Dastardos replied seriously, “That’s none of your buzzlegum wax.”

Avalon furrowed her brow, “Really? After these last few days I think I ‘ave the right to know.”

It was Dastardos’ turn to furrow his brow, then he laughed. “Fine, I have to go find Seedos. We have some loose ends to tie up.”

Avalon motioned for him to continue.

“... FINE. I have to go apologize to him.”

Brown eyes widening, Avalon couldn’t help being shocked, “YEW! APOLOGIZE!!!” She fell on the ground and laughed until her stomach hurt.

“Ha ha, very funny. See, this is why I don’t tell you things.” Dastardos tried to look disappointed, but ended up chuckling at his companion.

They traveled through a few more forests, mainly trying to avoid the most popular trails, conversing about random things that most people wouldn’t care to discuss. At the edge of town they stopped. “Well,” Avalon turned to Dastardos, “I suppose now yew ‘ave some business to attend to an’ I ‘ave mine. Meet up ‘ere again tomorrow?”

Dastardos shrugged, “Sure.” Dastardos watched Avalon walk along the trail back to her garden. _I still can’t believe she came all the way out there to find me. I’m not that big of a deal… And I never did ask her how she found me, I’ll have to do that tomorrow._  
He floated lazily back towards the twisted tree that he called home, if one could even call it that.

Magnar poked his head out of his sweater. “Hey Stardos, where we goin’? Back home?”

Dastardos looked down into Magnar’s big green eyes and smiled. “I’m taking you back home,” Dastardos looked up, “then I have to go find Seedos.”

Magnar whined, “I wanna see Sidos too! Can I come Stardos? Please???”

Dastardos was about to say no, but when he looked into Magnar’s pleading eyes he decided against it. “Alright. But I swear, you better stay out of sight until we find him! Cause if you don’t…”

Magnar jumped, “What? What?”

Dastardos grinned, “Oh, you don’t wanna know.”

Magnar shook, “Ok ok, I promise.” He snuggled back down against Dastardos’ chest.

Dastardos smiled. It was times like this that reminded him just how lucky he was to have the friends that he did. Which was exactly why he needed to find Seedos!

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Alexis yawned loudly, and then quickly covered her mouth.  
 _Oops, forgot I’m not alone in my cabin anymore._  
It was almost late afternoon by that time and the sun shone brightly in through the windows. Alexis smiled at the warmth of the sun’s rays.  
 _What a beautiful day, yaaaawwn._  
She jumped out of bed. “Crap! How long have I been asleep!?” She began to fret about being a bad house guest to Leena who, out of the kindness of her heart, had taken in an almost complete stranger and let her stay in her house. And here she was, sleeping until midday when Leena probably wanted to be out and about, not waiting for some lazy redhead to get out of her-

Her thoughts were interrupted by Leena, “Oh! Good morning Alexis, I made breakfast!” You could practically hear Leena’s smile in her words.

Alexis slowly turned towards the kitchen, “Good morning... “ She ran over to the counter, “OMIGOSHLEENAI’MSOSORRYISLEPTINSOMUCHWHATTIMEISITIREALLYDIDN’T  
MEANTOBESUCHABOTHERI’LLJUSTLEAVEYOURHOUSERIGHTNOW!!!”

Leena laughed and shook her head, “No, it’s totally ok. It’s only eleven o'clock, I’m kind of an early bird anyway, so I just worked outside in my garden. And made breakfast!” She held up a pan filled with eggs as evidence. “Do you want some?”

Alexis grinned and nodded her head vigorously, “Yes please!”

Leena smiled warmly and gestured to one of her small brown chairs, “Go ahead and sit down, I have scrambled eggs, pancakes, orange juice, and sausage. Does that all sound good?”

“Yup, I can’t wait to try it! By the way it smells I’m guessing you’re a pretty good cook.” Alexis grinned at her frizzy-haired friend.

Leena blushed, “I sure hope so, I really do try to cook my best even for the smallest occasions. Like breakfast!”

Really good was an understatement, Leena had talent like a professional cook that owned their own business would have. The eggs were soft and the cheese was gooey, as soon as it entered your mouth it turned into a melty substance with every flavor just right. The different seasonings hit your tongue like a flavor burst of delight. If taste was colors, then Leena’s eggs were a rainbow of bright cheery colors. The orange juice was freshly squeezed from Leena’s very own orange tree. You could almost taste the effort put into making it, there was not a single seed to be choked upon. The oranges must have been picked at the exact right time to make this orange juice. The pancakes were moist, but not too moist. They were fluffy and had a taste that reminded Alexis of home. There were blueberry and strawberry toppings, also picked at perfection. The sausages were seasoned just right as well, and they made your tongue sizzle with delight. It was honestly one of the best breakfasts Alexis had ever ate.

And you could tell! Her face was filled with wonder and love for every bite, and she looked almost excited to eat the next bite the whole time she was eating. She tried not to look rude, but she couldn’t help stuffing her face with the delectable, warm goodness.

After Alexis and Leena were done with their wonderful breakfast- and Alexis was done showering Leena with praises- they engaged in a friendly chat.

“Wow Leena, I really love your mask! Where’d you get it?” Alexis couldn’t help but notice Leena’s simple, but beautiful, mask. “It really looks great on you! And it’s so cute!”

Smiling cheerfully, Leena laughed “You’re so sweet! I really do love it... Seedos made it for me.” She blushed a light pink, once again displaying her feelings for Seedos.

“WAIT, you can MAKE masks?!” Alexis was shocked, she knew that the masks had to come from somewhere, but… where???

“Um, yeah,” Leena chuckled, “where else would they come from, silly!”

Thinking for a moment, Alexis asked incredously, “How did Seedos learn to do that? He must have had some pretty serious training right?”

Leena shook her head, “Actually, he just taught himself and used an emoting enchantment. He made it sound so easy…”

Alexis was overjoyed. _If Seedos could teach himself to make masks, I could probably do it too!_ “Yes!” She pumped a fist in the air, “I won’t have to go around wearing a bag on my head!!”

Leena laughed, “That’s true, are you going to buy one? They’re not terribly expensive…”

Alexis shrugged, “I’ll buy one or learn to make one or something. It can’t be that hard!!”

Leena admired Alexis’ determination. _Huh, I don’t think I could ever just DECIDE that I’m going to do something that big. Making masks looks difficult, except when Seedos does it…_

She was interrupted from her thoughts by Alexis, “Your garden is looking very cheery this morning. Then again, it must always look cheery.”

Leena smiled, “Aww, thank you! I suppose it does look rather nice in the morning light. Leafos said it’s always one of her favorite parts of her day to come to my garden and look at all the plants and pinatas.”

“Oh yeah, she must be really proud of you! Taking such great care of her father’s garden. After all, she was Jardiniero’s first kid!” Alexis grinned.

Smiling, Leena blushed, but her cheer quickly faded away, “Well, actually… she wasn’t.”

Alexis frowned, “Oh? Was it Storkos?” She hadn’t seen Storkos yet, but the way she was described online it sounded like she was pretty young. And Seedos couldn’t be older than Leafos if Leena was dating him.

Leena shook her head, she gazed out the window, “It was… Stardos.”

Her tone told Alexis that something BAD had happened to Stardos, but did she dare ask?

Yes, yes she did. “What... happened?”

A tear pricked the corner of Leena’s eye. Even though it wasn’t her family, she often couldn’t help feeling sympathetic towards them. Such a terrible thing had happened to Jardiniero’s family. “Well, back when this was Jardiniero’s garden, he had a helper named Lester. Lester was fired when Jardinero found him making some sort of… disturbing new kind of candy. Later on, Jardinero began a search for the legendary,” she continued to tell Alexis the entire story of Stardos’ disappearance, and Seedos’. She also mentioned Dastardos showing up a few days later.

“I see,” Alexis was never the emotional type, but this story had HER on the verge of tears, as well as Leena, who had interrupted the story quite a few times to blow her nose and wipe her eyes.

She could see how upset this was making Leena (who couldn’t?!) so she moved on, “Well, thanks for telling me all this Leena. And really, thank you sooo much for breakfast, it was honestly AMAZING. I’m sure you have work to do, so if you don’t mind,” she gestured towards the door.

Leena looked up, “Oh, yes. It’s ok. Sorry, I get really emotional. I probably should do some work in the garden to get my mind off of… things.” She gave a broken smile, “Go ahead,” she flapped her hand, “I’ll be fine. I just need a few minutes.”

Alexis smiled back, more out of sympathy, and walked backwards out the door. As soon as she got down the ladder she bolted into the woods. She spotted the best climbing tree she could find and climbed up to the very top. _Alright, now I can think._ Being up high always seemed to clear her head and help her focus. It was kind of funny; she was terrified of heights on staircases, roller coasters, or even a ferris wheel! But when she was in a tree, or on a roof, or basically any place that WASN’T safe, she felt like she could do anything. _Let’s get things straight: this kid, Stardos, disappears after going into the woods with a suspicious ex-helper named Lester. This Lester was making a new kind of candy, or at least attempting to. Days later, DAstardos shows up, and this island has a villain named Pester?? Either I’m crazy… or I’M A GENIUS!!! or it’s pretty easy to see and everyone else is just really thick in the head... I’ll go with me being a GENIUS!_

Alexis had always been bright, she had even been a detective on… erm, smaller cases. These smaller cases consisted of: “Who stole Amelia’s lunch box?”, “ Where is my phone?”, and her favorite, “What are the school hotdogs really made of???.” That was just to name a few. To sum it up, she was pretty good at putting clues together to solve puzzles. But this was her biggest case yet! She climbed down from her perch and gazed off into the distance with her hands on her hips, doing her best superhero impression.

Alexis was the kind of person who would stare death straight in the face.  
And that was EXACTLY what she planned to do.


	2. Chapter 2

There was only one problem.

Death wasn’t home.

 _Great, now what am I supposed to do._ Alexis slumped against the twisted old tree. She had knocked six times and even gone so far as to peek through the window. _I suppose I’ll just have to wait… I shouldn’t just stand out here though, someone could see. That would be a great start! “Hey Alexis, I saw you standing outside Dastardos’ house. Are you friends with him? What’s wrong with you?!”_ She shook her head and straightened up. Alexis wandered back into the woods and climbed into the same tree that she was in before. She nestled herself into the crook of a large branch and relaxed. _I have a feeling this might be a while…_

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Dastardos stayed along the outskirts of town, silently praying he wouldn’t draw any attention to himself. Of course, that wasn’t very easy for someone like him. He didn’t exactly look… normal. Well, he didn’t look normal at all or anything even relatively CLOSE to normal. But he tried to be discreet in his search for Seedos anyway.

It was around mid afternoon when Dastardos finally decided to go back home. That was when he realized. _Oh duh!_ He smacked a bony palm into the forehead of his mask. _I’ll just check his house! He’s usually there around this time, right?_ Dastardos decided this was a good plan, and made his way to Seedos’ house. He had to take the back way into the swamp so he wouldn’t be noticed by Leena or Leafos. The LAST thing he needed was to be heading into the swamp and have Leafos see him. Seedos’ house was one of the only things in that area, so it would be pretty obvious where Dastardos was headed. And since Leafos was such a gossip… well, you get the point. It would be BAD. NEWS.

Dastardos suddenly stopped in mid-air. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn’t realized he was already at Seedos’ house.

He took a deep breath, and knocked three times.

Silence

Dastardos considered simply leaving. _No, I have to do this. Seedos has dealt with all the crap I gave him these last few years. It’s about time I did something, I guess. Well, I don’t really have to. UGH. I should have never let him get close to me in the first place. If only I had-_

“Dastardos? What the hell are you doing here? I thought I said-”

Dastardos realized Seedos had answered his knocks and was now talking to him.

“-never forgive you.”

Dastardos mentally groaned, he hadn’t thought of a single thing to say to his brother. “Um. Look, I’m really… sorry. About Leena’s squazzil and all that. I, uh, don’t know what happened?”

Seedos chuckled darkly,”That’s the best you can do? Why the hell did you come all the way to my house just to say that? Also, Leena’s squazzil wasn’t the only thing you did. All those times I tried to still be your friend after what happened, and you did nothing for me. I still don’t understand why you’re even here! I thought you’d be relieved to never have to say a word to me again.”

 _Damn, I guess he really thought this through. That or I’m a jackass and he barely has to think of what to say since he’s been waiting so long to say it. I really screwed up…_ “Alright Seedos. I’ll be honest with you, I guess… Whenever I see a sick pinata, I have to reap it. Something comes over me and I can’t help myself. Leena’s pinata was just… I dunno. Look, I came here because… I’m sorry. There, I said it.”

Seedos didn’t know what to say. It was obvious that his brother was actually TRYING to apologize, but Seedos didn’t know if that was enough. 

_He killed Crispy. He KILLED Leena’s prized pinata. He… hurt Leena._ It wasn’t enough. “So, you think you can come say sorry and everything will go back to the way it was? Huh? Well that’s-

“No.”

“-not the way things wo... wait, did you say no?”

“Yeah.”

“Well what do you MEAN no?” Seedos was confused. What was Dastardos trying to say? He didn’t exactly make conversations easy for the other person…

“I mean no, I didn’t expect to be able to come here and apologize and make everything go back to normal.”

“Oh, well, then what did you have in mind?”

Dastardos shrugged, “What do you want?”

Seedos was taken aback. He hadn’t expected this! He didn’t even think Dastardos would come apologize, but this! This was something else! _What do I want? How can he make things up to me? That’s a tough one…_

“Hello? You in there?” Dastardos waved his hand in front of Seedos’ ginormous mask.

Seedos woke up, “Oh! Right… . Tell you what, you come back here around say… ten o'clock tonight. Then I’ll have thought of something.”

“O-k. I’ll be here.” Dastardos turned around and floated back towards his home. _Well, that went well. I can’t help but feel he’s still mad at me._ He smirked. _I’m just glad I won’t have to deal with anymore crap until ten. I can just go home and relax…_

“Hey Stardos, what happened?”

Dastardos jumped. “Magnar? I completely forgot you were in there.” The little pinata had poked his head above Dastardos’ sweater, curious about how the talk with Seedos had gone. “Well… it didn’t exactly fail, probably. Just wait a little longer. Hey, didn’t you want to say hi to Seedos or something?”

Magnar’s papery cheeks turned pink, “I got nervous. All I could hear was the tone of your voices, but that was enough to tell me it wouldn’t have been great timing…”

Dastardos chuckled, “Well, you couldn’t be more right. Now, let’s get you home.”

“Ok, how long do I have to wait until you tell me if it worked?”

“Hopefully not too long… I’m kind of wondering myself. But we don’t need to worry about that for at least,” Dastardos took a guess, “five more hours. So let’s go get some sleep.” He smiled and kept floating back to his home.

Where he and Magnar collapsed on the bed and slept for five hours.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Avalon was making her way to Leena’s garden to check on her. She felt kind of bad about leaving without telling poor Leena. _She probably ‘ad an ‘eartattack when she found out I was gone. It’d be best to let her know that I’m fine, and I just ‘ad to go… visit a friend. That was the plan._

The forest was a little dim since the trees were full with leaves, but there was just enough light for Avalon to see her surroundings.

A loud THUMP cast Avalon away from her thoughts. She jumped back, startled by the sudden interruption.

She regained her confidence and ventured towards the unknown lump of, clothes?

Avalon turned the body over to see an unconscious teenage girl with a paper bag over her head. It seemed she had just fallen out of a tree. “Wot the ‘ell?! Oh jeez, she could be ‘urt, I better call Patch.

Avalon thought about what to do for a moment or two, and then resolved to pick the girl up over her shoulder and carry her to Leena’s treehouse, which was the nearest house. _I’m sure Leena won’t mind, she’ll let me lay this girl down in ‘er garden while I figure out wot to do._

Avalon strode up to Leena’s garden to see her playing with some Sparrowmints in, what seemed to be, a brand new birdbath. Leena turned around and gasped, “AVALON! You’re okay!” She rushed over and enveloped Avalon into a great, big fizzlybear hug.

Avalon grinned, it felt good to be back and hear Leena’s voice again. “I’m fine Leena, I’m sorry I didn’t tell yew where I was going. It was really… urgent.”

Leena let go a bit, “As long as you’re ok then everything is fine!” She had tears welling up in her eyes.

Avalon felt a sting of regret. _I wish I could ‘ave told ‘er where I was going._

Leena stepped back, wiping the tears from her eyes, and smiled warmly. That smile was soon replaced by confusion, “Avalon! What’s on your shoulder?”

Avalon had completely forgotten about the person hanging over her shoulder! “Oh! “er! I almost forgot!” She gently laid the girl down in the grass.

A look of horror spread across Leena’s face.

“Yew know ‘er?”

Leena nodded and turned her head slowly. “Is she…?”

“No no no, she’s just unconscious. I think she- yew know what? I’ll wait to tell yew until we get to Patch. I don’t ‘ave my alert system on me, so could yew.” She motioned towards Leena’s alert system.

“Oh! Right…” Leena fumbled with her alert system, trying to call the local doctor. “Hello? Patch? Yes, it’s me, Leena. We’re bringing someone in, just wanted to let you know… ok… yes.... Alright. Goodbye.” She gave Avalon a thumbs-up. “He said we can bring her in right away.”

“Alright, yew ready to go?”

Leena nodded her head, “Let’s go!”

Avalon lifted the girl over her shoulder and strode into the woods, Leena close behind her. “So, ‘o is this girl?”

“Oh, she’s the new girl. She came here yesterday and I offered her a place to stay. Her name’s Alexis.”

Avalon nodded, “So, if this Alexis was staying at your ‘ouse, why was she lying on the ground in the woods.”

Leena shrugged, “Actually, she left this morning after breakfast. She didn’t mention where she was going though…”

“Well, I suppose we’ll just ‘ave to ask ‘er when she wakes up.”

A few minutes later they arrived at Patch’s clinic.

“Oh m-m-m-my. Is this Alexis, the n-new arrival? Bring her into the b-back.”

Patch led the two women into the backroom and Avalon laid Alexis down on the table.

“W-What happened?”

Avalon began, “Well, I was walking through the woods and I ‘eard this thump. I walked up to ‘er and turned ‘er over to see if she was alive, and then I brought ‘er to Leena’s ‘ouse and we called yew. Then we brought ‘er ‘ere. That’s all. I think she fell out of a tree or something.”

“I see. It l-looks like she only has a few b-bruises and scraps, n-n-nothing too bad.” Patch continued examining her, and then retrieved some bandages and ointments from his shelf.

Patch treated her within five minutes, and said she had hit her head pretty hard, so she needed some rest. So Leena and Avalon returned to Leena’s garden. After some discussion, they decided that Avalon should remain at Leena’s tree house until Patch called them about Alexis.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

It was ten o’ clock. Seedos had been dreading that time the entire afternoon. Why? Because he still hadn’t thought of a way Dastardos could do something for him. He had considered making him do something embarrassing, but the point of the task was to allow them to become friends again. Dastardos probably wouldn’t want to be friends with Seedos if Seedos told him to do something embarrassing. Seedos had also considered making his brother personally apologize to Leena. But there were several problems with that. First of all, people would wonder how a nerd like Seedos would be able to force an undead badass like Dastardos to apologize to someone. Second, Leena would probably just be scared if her pinata’s murderer came up to talk to her.

So Seedos was out of luck.

He had also considered simply forgiving Dastardos, but that seemed much too easy.

 _Why does this have to be so haaaard???_ Seedos banged his head against the wall of his house repeatedly. “Ow!” A book had fallen on Seedos’ head. He opened it up. It was a story about a flying sweetooth named Sir Bucktooth. It was just a fantasy, but it still gave Seedos an idea.

He grinned, almost evilly, “This will be perfect.”

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Dastardos had reluctantly agreed to let Magnar come, again. “Fine, but you better not-”

“I know I know. I better show myself until we find him or else something BAD will happen.”

Dastardos smiled, “Good. Now let’s get going. I swear, this kid better not have anything… _weird_ in mind.”

He floated silently through the woods until he had reached Seedos’ house.

Seedos stepped outside of his home, “Welcome,” he desperately tried not to display how excited he was about his plan. “Follow me.”

_That’s all. Just, follow me? What the hell?! He’s got something big planned, I can tell. I swear…_

_I think he can tell. Can he tell? I hope not. Well, that wouldn’t be that bad. But it’s better as a surprise!_  
“Here we are.”

Dastardos looked around, “A cliff? What’re you planning? If you want me to jump off then I will, it won’t hurt.”

Seedos grinned, “No. What I want you to do, is show me Magnar.”

Dastardos felt a twinge in his heart. _What does he want with Magnar!?! He has nothing to do with this!!_ That’s not what he said though. “Alright.” He pulled Magnar out of his sweater.

“Hi Sidos! What’re we doin’ up here?” Magnar seemed to be enjoying himself.

“It’s Seedos! And you’re just about to find out. Dastardos, all you have to do is…”

“Yeah?! Just say it already!” Dastardos was becoming annoyed.

Seedos couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Throw Magnar off the cliff!”

The small pinata paled. So did Dastardos, “You… you can’t be serious.”

Seedos nodded, with a twisted smile.

“Why would I ever do that! Is this supposed to be revenge for Leena or something?! Cause Magnar is more than some stupid squazzil!”

Seedos shook his head, “No no no, this isn’t revenge. This is you showing that you trust me!”

“You’re crazy if you think I’ll throw Magnar off the cliff just because you said I should trust you.”

Seedos sighed, “Well, that’s too bad. I guess I’ll be heading home now…” He turned on his heel and began slowly walking back into the forest.

“Wait!” Magnar’s voice rang out through the silence. He looked up at Dastardos with his big green eyes, “Do it Stardos.”

“What?! Magnar, how can you trust him?”

“I trust you.”

“Magnar… you’re all I have. I can’t do this to you.” Dastardos couldn’t believe his pinata would sacrifice himself just for Dastardos to be friends with his brother again.

“It’s ok. I’ll be fine. If not, then you can say I told you so.” Magnar winked. “We can do this!”

Dastardos took a deep breath.

“You gonna do it or what?” Seedos was enjoying this far too much.

Dastardos glared at him, “...I guess so.” He slowly floated over to the edge of the cliff, and dropped Magnar.

Dastardos squeezed his eyes shut and waited for a CRASH. But none came.

He opened one eye and looked over the edge. There was a pile of mattresses at the bottom of the drop. Dastardos almost cried out in joy to see that Magnar was still alive, lying in the middle of the mattress pile.

He turned to face Seedos, “What the hell was that? Making me throw him over a cliff? How twisted and sick and-”

He was interrupted by Seedos crushing him with a hug.

Seedos looked up at Dastardos with tear-filled eyes, “I still love you, even if you’re Dastardos now, even if you always will be Dastardos, you’re still my brother!”

Dastardos wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t even know what to think. Was he angry? Was he happy? What was going on?!

He decided to hug Seedos back, and just be quiet.

Neither of them knew how long the hug lasted, but it felt like it wasn’t long enough. They ended up throwing their masks aside and stargazing with their pinatas: some of Seedos’ shellybeans and Magnar. It was the best time the two of them had with each other in many years.

Eventually they fell asleep. Lying next to each other on a cliff, with their pinatas. Just like they would have if they were normal brothers.

Comment: Well, that was exciting! At least to write… I actually finished the next two and this one a while ago. But I’m a procrastinator, so I took several weeks to post it. But Summer Vacay has arrived! So I should able to write more stories! Thanks again to Toripocalypse and Lizzieknight!


	3. Chapter 3

It was morning.

_Wait, it’s morning?!_

Alexis sat straight up, “Where am I? Am I being held captive?! Am I in trouble?! Aw man! Whatever it is, I didn’t do it!!”

“Relax. This is j-just my b-b-back room.” A blonde guy with a blue monkey helmet on walked in.

Alexis recognized him as Doctor Patchingo, she had heard a bit about him.

“N-now, please lay d-down. You hit your h-head quite hard yesterday. L-L-Leena and Avalon b-brought you in. Avalon said she found you l-laying on the g-ground in the forest, she said she thought you f-f-fell out of a tree. Is that r-right?”

Alexis slowly nodded. _Crap! I fell asleep in a tree?! How could I have been so careless!_ “Yeah, I was just… birdwatching. And I guess I fell asleep,” She shrugged like that was all she could come up with.

 _W-Wow, she m-must have hit her head harder than I thought._ “M-M-Maybe if you’re having s-some trouble remembering things you should stay a l-little longer.”

Alexis shook her head, “Oh no, I have to go as soon as possible. I have to take care of some things.”

Patch nodded, “Ok, b-but I can’t let you go until I’m s-sure you’re ok.”

Alexis slumped, “Fine… but, I can’t pay for this. I have no money whatsoever.”

Patch mentally sighed, but he put on the friendliest smile he could manage, “That’s quite alright. This is j-j-just a short fix-up. P-Plus, you’re new here right? It’s the least I c-can do for you.”

Alexis smiled, “Thanks. I could try to pay you back later… when I get money. Anyway, you’re Doctor Patchingo, right? But what’s your first name? If you don’t mind my asking.”

Patch shook his head, “N-N-Not at all! It’s… um… Patch.” He blushed. “Patch Patchingo.”

Alexis grinned, “So, what do you prefer? Doc Patch, or Doc Patch?”

They laughed.

“Oh either one’s fine really.”

Alexis giggled.

For the rest of the morning Alexis stayed in the clinic with Patch. It was the best time she’d ever had at a hospital!

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

“Bye Sidos!” Magnar waved his little paw after Seedos, who was walking into the swamp. 

Seedos didn’t even bother correcting him, “Bye!”

Dastardos smiled, it had been such a great night. And now he could talk to Seedos again. Plus, Magnar was happy! That was always good.

Magnar grinned, “That was fun! Can we do that again every night Stardos?”

Dastardos laughed, “I wish. But no, I don’t think so. But we can see Seedos all the time.”

Magnar looked a little disappointed, but he shrugged it off. “So are we going home now?”

“Yes we are. I have to go meet Avalon soon, but I can drop you off at the tree first.

“Ok Stardos,” Magnar nestled back down into Dastardos’ sweater.

Dastardos always loved when he did that, he was so warm against his chest. Sometimes he longed for warmth he used to be able to have. Now he was always just so… cold. _Meh, nothing I can do about that._ Dastardos’ home was in his line of sight. It was a miracle that Pester hadn’t come to find Dastardos yet. So Dastardos planned to hang out at home with some peace and quiet until it was time to go find Avalon. He figured he had at least an hour.

The house was silent and cold. But it was home.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Alexis was marching happily down the path to Leena’s garden. _I never thought a doctor could be so fun! Patch is a cool guy… Patch Patchingo. Funny name. Easy to remember though. Heh._

Alexis heard a gasp. She looked in it’s direction and saw a shocked Leena, who came running over to her. “Oh Alexis! I was so worried! What happened? Why were you in the woods?”

 _Good to know someone was actually worried about me._ “Sorry, I was just birdwatching in a tree. I guess I dozed off and fell out of it.” She smiled goobaaishly.

“‘ow did Patch treat yew?” a tall woman, who Alexis assumed was Avalon, had showed up next to Leena.

“Oh, he was all right. He was really fun to talk to! Super funny too.”

Avalon nodded, she didn’t believe Alexis’ story about birdwatching. But she figured whatever it was wouldn’t do much harm. Then again, if she feels like she needs to hide it…

Leena spoke up, “Well, I better get back to my garden work. See you later!” She skipped back to the core of her garden and got busy.

“Yeah, so do I. See yew around.” Avalon strolled into the village.

Alexis was left alone, but not without work to do.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Dastardos was resting on his couch with Magnar, half asleep- half awake, when he heard the knocks coming from the back of his tree.

 _Ugh, stupid sparrowmints._ He ignored the knocks and went back to resting.

But they came again. “What the hell?” He got up and went right through the wall. The person on the other side was only half as surprised as he was.

Both of them fell backwards.

Alexis, who had been expecting this, but was still very surprised, sat on the ground for a few moments.

Dastardos jumped back up right away. Or rather he floated back up right away. “Who the hell are you and why are you knocking on my house. And… why are you wearing a paper bag on your head?”

Alexis finally got up, “Hello Mr. Reaper. My name is Alexis, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She stuck out her hand to shake Dastardos’, but she was rejected.

“Alright, I’m going to assume you’ve never heard of me before. I’m Dastardos, I kill pinatas for fun and I don’t talk to weirdos with bags on their heads.”

Alexis blushed, “Oh, right. I forgot about the bag. I can take it off if you want,” she pulled off the bag and shook her hair out, before realizing she had basically just showed a “private place” to a strange stranger.

Dastardos covered his eyes, but it was too late. With a sigh, he put his hands down. “Look, I don’t know who you are and I don’t want to know. So why don’t you just get away from me and my house before I make you.”

Alexis giggled, “You’re funny! Anyway, before I leave you probably should let me talk.”

Dastardos rolled his eyes, “And why would I ever do that?”

Alexis smirked, “Oh, no real reason. Just that I know exactly who you are… Stardos.”

Dastardos nearly fainted right there. Actually, he fell right on his bony ass. _How? Wha? Why? Who?_ A million questions ran through his brain.

Alexis stood there, still smirking. “Still want me to leave?”

“I’d like you to leave this planet,” Dastardos mumbled under his breath.

Alexis laughed, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. I can keep a secret!”

Dastardos groaned and stood up, “Who told you anyway?” _Only Seedos and Avalon know, as far as I know…_

“I figured it out on my own.” Alexis didn’t even try to hide her pride.

“Well then! That’s even better! I’m sure everyone will figure out eventually…”

“No, they would have already figured it out by now if they were going to. I think they all gave up on finding Stardos and just accepted that you’re a different person.”

 _Huh, this kid’s smarter than she looks._ “So, how did you figure it out?”

“It wasn’t that hard. Let’s see, Stardos disappears the same time that DaStardos appears.” She put her hand on her hip and gave an expectant look. “I’m smarter than I look.

“Yeah yeah, when are you going to put that bag back on your head?” Dastardos averted his eyes.

“Oh, that.” Alexis gazed loathingly at the bag, “Well I figured since you already saw my face that I don’t need it on. And it’s SUPER uncomfortable.”

Dastardos rolled his eyes, “Fine. I guess you should come inside,” he looked around, “can’t have anyone seeing you talking to me.”

“Ok, fine with me.” Alexis tried to keep her cool but she was THRILLED about getting to go into the reaper’s house! _I wonder what it looks like. Probably not much. Still! I can’t believe he’s actually talking to me!!_

The two of them quickly made their way around to the door and rushed in.

Alexis looked around, “Wow, you’re house is WAAAY better than mine.”

Dastardos lifted an eyebrow, “Where do you live? The middle of the swamp?”

Alexis laughed, “No. I just don’t have a house. Or anything… except a paper bag!” She held up the bag with mocking pride.

“I see, so what? Do you sleep on a bench in the village or something?” Dastardos was quite amused by this girl. She had nothing except a bag and SHE out of all people figured out that he was Stardos.

“Actually I’m staying at Leena’s house. She’s so nice! She let me, a complete stranger who just came to the island, stay in her house as long as I need to!” Alexis threw her hands up like she couldn’t believe it herself.

“Yeah, she seems like the kind of person who would do that. Not if she found out you were talking to me though.” Dastardos smirked.

“Yeah I know. I have to go find a garden and a house so I won’t have to keep leaving her’s in the morning. She doesn’t seem to suspect anything, but someone else does… I can’t remember her name though.” She shrugged.

“Hmph, so did you come here just to bother me or something? Cause you’ve already done that plenty,” Dastardos lied. He was actually kind of enjoying talking to this girl. She was somewhat… fun.

Alexis slumped, “No, I just… thought it would be cool to meet you or something,” she mumbled. It wasn’t every day that you get to meet the pinata reaper of the island!

_Phhh, this kid! If she thinks we can be friends or something she’s got another thing-_

“‘ey? Dastardos, yew in ‘ere?” Avalon walked in, “Yew were supposed to meet me an-” She stopped mid sentence. “Wot the ‘ell?! ‘o is she?!”

Dastardos cringed, “Who? This? Umm, she’s nobody! I just-”

“Hey! You’re that person from before! In Leena’s garden!” Alexis piped up. “I’m Alexis remember?”

Avalon remembered. _So this is wot she looks like with ‘er mask off._ Alexis had a lightly tanned face with freckles and green eyes. Her skin looked soft and her smile was welcoming. She looked young. “Dastardos wot the ‘ell is she doing ‘ere?!”

Dastardos shrugged, “I heard knocking from over there,” he pointed his thumb towards the back wall, “and so I phased through the wall. I saw her, she took her bag off, and we came back inside. That’s basically all… And, she knows.”

Avalon glared at him, “Knows wot?”

Dastardos rolled his eyes, “Who I am. She said she figured it out pretty easily, she’s only been here for a day or two.”

Alexis nodded. “Yeah, so you know too?”

Avalon nodded slowly. “Why did yew take the bag off?”

Alexis blushed, “Oh… he asked why I had a bag in my head, and I forgot about how you’re not supposed to take your mask off, so I took it off. And it’s really uncomfortable. I mean, imagine having to wear a paper bag on your head all day! It. Sucks.” She clenched her fists in frustration, but quickly released them, “I can put it back on if you want, I just figured that since both of you have already seen my face and it sucks to wear it…”

Avalon sighed, more in sympathy, “Alright, yew can keep it off. Obviously Dastardos is fine with it.” She jerked her head in his direction.

“Hm, what?” Dastardos started paying attention again, he had been previously engaged in rubbing Magnar’s tummy. Magnar harrumphed and folded his tiny arms, annoyed by his owner who had stopped paying attention to him.

“Awww! Is that Magnar? He’s so cute!!” Before Dastardos could stop her, Alexis had rushed over and began to pet Magnar. Magnar grinned and climbed onto her lap, forcing her to sit down on the couch next to Dastardos.

Dastardos looked at Avalon and shrugged.

Avalon rolled her eyes and sat down on the other side of Dastardos. “So, now wot?”

Dastardos shrugged again, “I guess we just, hang out?”

Alexis looked up, hope in her eyes, still rubbing Magnar.

Avalon grimaced, “... Fine. But I swear, if yew breathe a word of this to Leena-”

Alexis violently shook her head, “I wouldn’t dream of it! Yew can trust me!” She did her best impression of Avalon’s voice, which was surprisingly good.

Dastardos barely stifled a laugh, “Roight than! Let’s get to it mate! Niles Fish-n’-chips, back again. Noice to meet yew!”

They all laughed.

The day ended up being… not terrible. Avalon was kind of surprised by that. She thought that Alexis being there would kinda ruin the fun, but it didn’t. She was actually pretty cool!

Dastardos didn’t think much of it, he was a little pissed that someone could discover him within their first day of being on the island. That surely wasn’t a good sign… But at least it wasn’t some weirdo like he had thought Alexis would be.

Alexis was full of sheer joy! She got to spend her second day hanging out with such an amazing gardener as Avalon, who gave her lots of tips to get a garden started, and a super cool pinata reaper like Dastardos, who was super funny and sarcastic. It was one of the best days she had ever had!

When she had to go back to Leena’s and Avalon had to go back to her garden, she was only a little sad. She knew this wasn’t a one time thing. She believed that she had made two new friends today. _Dang, if things keep going like this I’ll have more friends than I can count soon enough!_ Alexis strolled up to Leena’s tree house smiling to herself. _This is going to be great!_

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Yen didn’t know if he was happy or angry. Avalon was back. He still didn’t know if he even wanted her. He knew he loved her, but if she liked Dastardos… A person who liked a guy like Dastardos couldn’t be good… right?

Well, Yen had a plan anyway. He was going to show Avalon just how big of a mistake she had made. No matter what.


	4. Chapter 4

Yoto could hardly believe himself. He had finally agreed to talk to Jardiniero with Storkos. 

Storkos was trying to be nice about the whole thing, but she thought they had waited far too long. They should have talked to Jardiniero about them being together a while ago. But, better late than never.

So there Yoto was, leaning against a tree and waiting for Storkos. He had dressed up a little bit, but was still dressed quite casually. Storkos had said that she wanted her father to be impressed by the REAL Yoto, not some fancy pretend Yoto. So he had worn his nice jeans and a yellow t-shirt. Surprisingly, his clothes had no stains on them at all! He scanned the blue afternoon sky, searching for a flying heroine.

After a few minutes she came into view and landed next to Yoto. Storkos had a blue and white dress on, as well as a ten-pinometer grin. “Hey Yoto, you ready?”

Yoto smiled and nodded enthusiastically, “I sure am!” No! His brain screamed. I am not ready now and I never will be! His body seemed to think another thing. He grasped Storkos’ hand as they strolled along the path to Jardiniero and Leafos’ house.

Storkos was impressed, I didn’t think he would be excited! I’m glad one of us is… She hid her nervousness and continued grinning.

They arrived at the sideways tree that Jardiniero called home and Storkos went up to knock. Before she did she turned around a gave a confident and reassuring nod to Yoto, who nodded back. Storkos rapped on the door three times.

Jardiniero promptly answered the door, wondering who could be on the other side.

He was surprised when he saw his youngest daughter outside. And even more surprised when he saw the red haired boy behind her.

“Storkos! And… Yoto? What a surprise! Come in,” Jardiniero reluctantly rolled back to open the door wider for his daughter and Yoto.

Storkos grinned and led Yoto into the house. “Hi dad, you look nice tonight.” She tried to make small talk to soften the huge blow she was about to throw.

Jardiniero instantly knew she was hiding something, “Thank you, and I might say the same to you.”

Like a bunnycomb who had just smelled a carrot, Leafos scurried into the hall, curious about who could be in their house.

She smiled when she saw who it was and walked further into the room, “Hello Storkos, hello Yoto. What brings you here?” 

Yoto mentally groaned. _Oh great, she’s here. Now the entire village can know about us._

Much to Yoto’s delight, Storkos spoke up, “Oh we just wanted to talk to dad about something. Nothing important.”

Leafos slumped a bit and became uninterested, “I see, well I’ll be in my room if anyone needs me.” She walked off to go do something boring, or at least Yoto imagined she would.

Jardiniero led Storkos and Yoto into the living room and the couple sat down.

Jardiniero looked into Storkos’ eyes. He could tell something was wrong. _What is she hiding? She looks nervous… ___

__Storkos turned to Yoto, who gave her a thumbs up. Storkos felt her confidence come back. What was she so afraid of? Why would her dad be mad at her for starting a family with the man she loved? In fact, he’d probably be happy for her!_ _

__Storkos took a deep breath, grinned, and said, “Dad... I’m pregnant!”_ _

__Jardiniero nearly fell out of his wheelchair, he spluttered like a car engine, “WH-WH-WH-WHAT?!?”_ _

__Ok... maybe he was just really excited._ _

__Jardiniero righted himself and began asking questions, “With who?! When did this happen?! Why did this happen?! I can’t believe this! You’re not even married!”_ _

__...So he wasn’t exactly happy. Storkos’ smile was slowly disappearing._ _

__Jardiniero suddenly realized, with horror, what the answer to his first question was. His daughter was having a child with Yoto Yoa._ _

__Yoto was getting very uncomfortable with how Jardiniero was staring at him._ _

__The old gardener raised his hand and pointed at Yoto, “You. You’re the reason my daughter is…” he struggle to say it aloud, “pregnant.”_ _

__Yoto withered under Jardiniero’s intense glare. “Y-yes sir. I-I love your daughter very much,” he paused to glance at Storkos who was grinning encouragingly, which gave him a little jolt of happiness. He realized that he and Storkos loved each other, and Jardiniero would just have to deal with it, “and I want what’s best for Storkos, I’m sure you do to, So you probably know how important it is to Storkos that you show her love and support during this very special time in her life.” Yoto finished his speech with a nod of satisfaction,_ _

__Jardiniero’s jaw dropped. He couldn’t believe this boy had the gall to speak to him like that! Just as he was about to reprimand Yoto on his rude (in his mind) behavior, he noticed Leafos watching from the door. She gave him a look that said, “don’t do something you’ll regret.”_ _

__Jardiniero realized that out of his once large family, he only had his two daughters left. He didn’t want to let one of them down. He sighed, “I… suppose you’re right.”_ _

__Storkos adopted a look of disbelief, “R-really dad? You mean it?!”_ _

__Jardiniero slowly nodded, “You’re nineteen, you can make your own decisions. It isn’t my choice what you do. But be careful Storkos, you have to be wise about what you choose to do.” He waggled his finger as he warned his youngest daughter, “Some choices may lead to great loss.” I would know. Jardiniero had lost his wife, two sons, and garden all because he made the decision to go search for the legendary dragonache. Which turned out to be a false lead anyway._ _

__Storkos leapt up out of her chair and swept Yoto into a great big hug. They did a happy jig and gave each other a great big kiss on the lips. They giggled as they remembered Jardiniero was still there._ _

__Storkos leaned down to give her father a kiss on the cheek, “Thank you so much dad, it means a lot to us!”_ _

__And with that, the joyous lovers left._ _

__Jardiniero was glad he had heeded Leafos’ “advice”. I guess that no good Yoto was right for once, my approval really is important to Storkos._ _

__Leafos ambled into the living room and sat in the couch next to her father. “You made the right decision Dad.”_ _

__Jardiniero shook his head, “I just hope they don’t do anything foolish.”_ _

__Leafos silently agreed._ _

__VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV_ _

__Yen was moping in his room, as usual. He had been thinking about what he did, and starting to realize how crazy he had acted. I can’t BELIEVE I did all that! Maybe it’s a good thing Avalon left me… Whatever the case, I vow to never let love control me again. But Avalon is probably still mad at me. I think I’d at least like to do something to show her that I’m sorry._ _

__He got off his bed and left his house, careful not to wake his Uncle Bart or Yoto. Then again, Yoto could sleep through just about anything, so he wouldn’t wake up anyway. But it never hurts to be cautious._ _

__Yen walked down to the village and sat down on a bench. He needed to think._ _

__What could I possibly do to show Avalon how sorry I am? I know she’ll never fully forgive me, but I can at least try…_ _

__Yen groaned. He figured he would be thinking about that one for a while._ _

__VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV  
Alexis was dying with excitement for the day. She had just finished breakfast at Leena’s, and was now leaving to go get started._ _

__“Bye Leena!” Alexis waved goodbye as Leena left the treehouse to go work in her garden. Leena had been extremely kind in letting Alexis stay in her house for the last two days. Leena had also given Alexis some old tools: a shovel and a watering can. And as much as Alexis loved hanging out with Leena, she knew she couldn’t stay there forever. “Ok Alexis, time to check the list.” She whipped her list out of her pocket, nearly ripping it in the process, and looked at the first item._ _

__“Find an available garden plot.”_ _

__Alexis jumped out of her chair and raced down the ladder, running down the trail that led to the village._ _

__She soon arrived at her destination._ _

__How exactly should I go about doing this?_ _

__She scanned her surroundings. Petula was flirting with Eddie, who obviously wanted to leave but was trying to be polite, in front of her shop. Some guy in a black hoodie, who looked deep in thought, was sitting on a bench. Gretchen was walking back to her shop holding a small crate. Lottie and Willie were having a vivid argument on the street corner. It certainly wasn’t a very busy day._ _

__Alexis reviewed her options.  
So, Petula might know something since, from what I’ve heard, she’s a pretty big gossip. Eddie seems to be the kind of guy who would know everybody. Judging by his last name, Willie could know of some empty spaces, same as Lottie since she runs Costolot’s, but they look busy. I don’t know much about Gretchen or what she does, or who that black hoodie guy is. And I’m guessing Arfur is in his inn, and he probably knows something. Wow, I’m doing a great job of remembering who people are! Ugh, come on, stay focused Alexis! Ok, I think I’ll ask Eddie and Petula first._ _

__Alexis skipped up to Eddie and Petula with an invisible smile on her face._ _

__Petula turned to see who had come over to them and what they wanted, when she saw that it was the person with the bag on their head she had to suppress laugh. What the heck does she need? Besides a mask._ _

__Eddie grinned his million chocolate coin smile, “Hi Alexis, What’s up?”_ _

__Alexis felt her heart leap, people were starting to remember her! It was like she was beginning to fit in! “Hi Eddie, hi Petula. I was just wondering if you two knew about any open garden spaces near the village? I really wanna find the perfect one to build my garden!”_ _

__Petula ignored Alexis and examined her nails, as if they weren’t already painted perfectly._ _

__Eddie pondered the question and racked his brain for any info on gardens for sale. “Hmm… sorry Alexis, I don’t think I’ve heard of any.” He shrugged, “But I can let you know if I see one. Do you have an alert system?”_ _

__Alexis shook her head, reminding herself to add ‘Get an alert system’ to her to do list._ _

__Eddie tapped his chin in thought, “I guess I’ll just have to tell you in person. You’re staying with Leena right?”_ _

__Alexis nodded._ _

__“Okay, if I hear anything I’ll let you know. Good luck!”_ _

__Alexis smiled, “Thanks Eddie! Bye!” She ran off towards Arfur’s Inn._ _

__“Bye!” Eddie waved after her. He then noticed that Petula had gone back inside her store. He gave a sigh of relief and continued on with his day, glad that he wouldn’t have to listen to Petula brag about her “many achievements” for the rest of the morning._ _

__Alexis passed by the guy on the bench and slowed to a stop. She walked back and sat down next to him. He had his head in his hands and seemed to be staring at the ground._ _

__Alexis looked where he was staring. “That’s a nice rock.”_ _

__Hoodie guy jumped, “Huh?”_ _

__Alexis giggled, “Sorry. I’m Alexis,” she stuck out her hand, “I’m new on the island.”_ _

__Hoodie guy cautiously shook her hand, stunned by the fact that Alexis had simply walked up to him and introduced herself. “I’m Yen.”_ _

__Alexis laughed, “Don’t worry, I won’t bite.”_ _

__Yen laughed a bit, despite the bad mood he was in.  
Alexis seemed to sense he was a little down, “Ya know, you remind me of someone else I met… I forgot his name though.”_ _

__Yen knew what she meant, “You must mean Yoto, he’s my twin brother. Besides looks we’re really not alike at all.”_ _

__Alexis nodded, “Yeah, seems way different from what I’ve heard of him. You seem more… calm, and maybe a little smarter. But don’t tell him I said that!” Alexis waved her hands like she was trying to get erase her sentence from the air._ _

__Yen laughed, “I won’t. But… thanks.” Yen was surprised Alexis thought he, an almost complete stranger, was worthy of holding a conversation with. But he was glad she did, it kind of brightened his day a little, since he had been kind of mopey before they talked._ _

__Alexis sighed, “Well, it was nice talkin’ to ya Yen. I hope I see you around town!” And with that she caromed into Arfur’s Inn._ _

__Yen shook his head as he watched her go. What an interesting person._ _

__Alexis burst through the doors, trying not to be too loud in her bursting, and strode up to the counter, taking a seat on a stool._ _

__Arfur took notice of the young woman immediately; it wasn’t very common to see new faces in the village. He recognized her as the person from the docks a few days ago._ _

__He strolled over to her, “Hi there! I’m Arfur, and I run this place. You’re Alexis, right?”_ _

__Alexis smiled, though Arfur couldn’t see it, “Yeah! I am Alexis!” She was delighted that the villagers were recognizing her, though it might be due to the fact that she had a bag on her head._ _

__Arfur laughed, “Well it sure is nice to meet you, we don’t get many new faces being a small village and all. I like to make it my job to know each and every one of our little community. What can I get for you?”_ _

__Alexis opened her mouth, as if to speak, and then realized she had no money except a single bronze chocolate coin. She produced it from her pocket, with a goobaish look on her face, and asked, “Can I get anything for this?”_ _

__Arfur laughed again, “It’s on the house.”_ _

__Alexis grinned, “Aw, thank Arfur! That’s really nice of you. I kind of forgot that I don’t have any money…”_ _

__Arfur nodded, “Yes, that would be a problem. So why did you come here then? If you don’t mind me asking.”_ _

__Alexis thought for a second, and then her face lit up, “Oh yeah. I was wondering if you knew of any garden plots for sale. I’ve been looking to buy one, of course I still need money… but I’ll figure that part out later. For now I just need to find one.”_ _

__Now it was Arfur’s turn to ponder, “Hmm… well I did hear of one that’s just been rediscovered down by the beach. It’s somewhat near Leena’s house, you know where that is. It’s quite beaten down though, it would take a lot of work.”_ _

__Alexis was already excited by the idea of a garden by the beach AND by Leena’s house. It’s perfect! Close to the village, close to my best friend so far, and by a beach! “That sounds awesome! Thanks so much for telling me about it!”_ _

__“I’m glad I could help. Now, do you still want that drink?”_ _

__“Oh yes please.”_ _

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to Toripocalypse and Lizzieknight (their DA usernames) for use of their characters: Yen, Yoto, Leena, Avalon, and Magnar!


End file.
